Bow Eye

[rogerschwake]

The bow eye on my 2004 Sun Cat was starting to pull away from the boat. Looked inside the anchor locker and all I could see was a large glob of caulk where the bow eye was. After clearing away some of the caulk I found the two nuts that hold the bow eye in place with very little for a backing plate. After cutting a 2"X6" peace out of my old rudder and drilling to fit the bow eye, I was ready to put everything back together. With lots of caulk everything went back together and I'm ready to go sailing a few more times before the water turns hard here. Check your bow eye, it would be a good winter project.

ROGER

[nies]

Seems a old problem that Hutchins never fixed, my 78' 16 ComPac developed a loose bow eye second year of use........like you I found a nut with almost no backing except for a couple of washers....................I also made a wood plug to fit the shape of the hull, drilled a hole in it and re-attached and as of 2014 has never come loose............nies

[deisher6]

There is an old thread on this.  The bow eye on our C-16 had separated on one side.  Good thing to check if you are trailering.
regards charlie

[SMITH]

Having confronted this many times professionally in my old boatyard (though can't recall doing it on a CP vessel).  This is the fix we applied:

1 - First off, tap around the opening listening for soft fiberglass.  Fix it first.
2 - Inside the hull, clean then aggressively abrade a large area (think hand size to head size) then vacuum dust and clean with acetone on clean paper towels.
3 - Using a disposable surface, wet out bi-axial fiberglass cloth.  A popular weave known as "1708" is available through Minicraft of Florida, the Gougeon Brothers WEST System product line, WEST Marine stores, and many other sources.
4 - Brush a catalyzed batch of epoxy resin on the newly cleaned stem area.  Get it wet but not dripping.  My preference is the WEST 105/206 (higher temperature), or the 105/205 (colder temperature) mixes.  Other brands may be just as good.  We got started early with WEST, and I have stayed with it ever since.
5 - Wet out multiple (at least 3, you must make the call regarding how much laminate to add) layers of the 1708.  Have that cut so that the bi-axial "X"s crisscross the stem.  You do that on the disposable surface you brought onboard.  Work all air bubbles out of the fabric, they will show up as shiny silver spots.  A cheap laminating roller, available from the above sources does that best.  Bristle brushes are second best.  Though the epoxies don't smell as bad as polyester resin, they are just as bad for you.  Induce as much air movement as you can.  Follow all product safety recommendations.  Stagger all edges to eliminate stress risers in the hull. 
6 - Carefully lay the wetted fabric in place inside the stem, generously covering the repair area.  Again, the cheap laminating roller will do the best job. 
7 - It should take several hours or overnight to cure, and should sound and feel hard and slippery when cured.  If still soft, you probably screwed up on the mix.  Pull it all out, thoroughly wash and abrade the surface and begin again, this time better educated.  Set the new bow eye on an aluminum or stainless steel plate, set in wet thickened epoxy. 

Learning curves being what they are, for a professional, this job usually takes about two hours excluding the outside FRP repair.  For a backyarder I'd plan on most of a day.  Use new fasteners and SST lock nuts.  The end result should outlive the boat.
Good Luck.
SMITH

[capt_nemo]

Just add missing or improper BACKING to missing or improper CAULKING, on the list of things to check on your Com-Pac sailboat regardless of age.

capt_nemo